


convenience store crushes

by death-by-volleyball (fandomchildd), fandomchildd



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: 24/7 convenience store au, A lot of crushes, Alternate Universe - Convenience Store, Anxious Yachi Hitoka, Bisexual Ennoshita Chikara, Bisexual Tanaka Ryuunosuke, Bisexual Yachi Hitoka, Card Games, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Hair Braiding, Hijinks & Shenanigans, M/M, Minor Azumane Asahi/Nishinoya Yuu, Multi, Mutual Pining, Nishinoya Yuu & Tanaka Ryuunosuke are Bros, Pining, Polyamory, Polyamory Negotiations, SO MUCH FLUFF, Side Sunaosa, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, a lot of fluff, and the disaster bis with no sleep schedules, bisexual Shimizu Kiyoko, disastrous uno games, dont be fooled by the tags this is NOT crack this is ALL FLUFF, ennoshita being v pretty unknowingly, featuring coming out, i am SO WEAK for sunaosa and sakuatsu ok, implied akisaeten, implied miwasaelisa, many bi flags, side sakuatsu, the tired employees who work in the middle of the night to avoid people, way too many tiny marshmallows
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-11
Updated: 2020-10-27
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:35:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26453479
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fandomchildd/pseuds/death-by-volleyball, https://archiveofourown.org/users/fandomchildd/pseuds/fandomchildd
Summary: '“I’m going to die,” Yachi repeats. Ryuu nods solemnly, moving the Froot Loops to his basket and replacing them with tomatoes. Tomatoes are innocent. The beautiful cashiers won’t know that Ryuu is planning to throw them at Saeko’s window, and therefore Yachi will be suspicion free.'or, yachi and tanaka destroy their sleep schedules for two pretty cashiers on the night shift at a 24/7 grocery store
Relationships: Ennoshita Chikara/Shimizu Kiyoko, Ennoshita Chikara/Shimizu Kiyoko/Tanaka Ryuunosuke/Yachi Hitoka, Ennoshita Chikara/Tanaka Ryuunosuke, Ennoshita Chikara/Yachi Hitoka, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Miya Atsumu/Sakusa Kiyoomi, Shimizu Kiyoko/Tanaka Ryuunosuke, Shimizu Kiyoko/Yachi Hitoka, Tanaka Ryuunosuke/Yachi Hitoka
Comments: 17
Kudos: 59





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> im a useless multishipper,,,,,,, ennotana, kiyotana, kiyoyachi, and tanayachi are all god tier ships and theres NO ennokiyotanayachi content on ao3 which i am v disappointed at!!! so i was talking to a friend about how disappointed i was and she was like,,,,, you're going to write some aren't you  
> and then i DID  
> and then my best friend bullied me into finishing it!! lg thank u ilysm
> 
> oh and: this is an au where kiyoko and ennoshita did not go to karasuno, suna didn't go to inarizaki, sakusa didn't play volleyball in highschool (except for like. practicing with komori.) and suna and sakusa are both going to university and play on their uni teams. both have offers to go pro. both will be going pro after they graduate. also hinata only went to brazil for a year and has now returned home and is on the jackals. this is. mostly unnecessary to plot but like. i don't think i'm capable of not developing an au more than it needs to be.

Ryuunosuke likes to think he’s used to being around pretty people. 

_Yachi_ is his best friend, after all, and Ryuu is more than enough of a bisexual mess to admit that yeah, he probably has a crush on her. She’s adorable and cute and an even more disastrous bi than he is. He’s not sure when she took Noya’s place as his best friend- actually, he’s pretty sure that’s because Noya got promoted to his brother. But still. Yachi’s the cutest person Ryuu has ever seen.

But here the two of them are, hiding in the cereal aisle, both unable to turn that corner again and see two of the most _beautiful_ people Ryuu has ever seen. 

“ _Holy shit_ ,” Ryuu whispers. “Holy shit holy shit _holy shit_ did you _see_ them, oh my god.”

“I think I’m going to pass out,” Yachi whispers back, face buried in her hands. “Ryuuuu I can’t go out there, I’ll _die_.”

“We _need_ food, Yacchan,” Ryuu replies, patting her arm. “You take the normal stuff and I’ll take the weird stuff, I think I can handle being judged by literal _angels_.”

“ _I’m going to die_ ,” Yachi repeats. Ryuu nods solemnly, moving the Froot Loops to his basket and replacing them with tomatoes. Tomatoes are innocent. The beautiful cashiers won’t know that Ryuu is planning to throw them at Saeko’s window, and therefore Yachi will be suspicion free. 

Ryuu eyes his basket and then Yachi’s warily, then switches the Froot Loops and tomatoes back and grabs Yachi’s entire basket instead. 

Yachi’s basket is full of Yachi’s comfort foods. Chocolates, Froot Loops, lemon sorbet, an obscene amount of tiny marshmallows, more coffee than is probably healthy for anyone to consume, a box of lemon ginger tea, kettle corn, and a singular cucumber. 

Ryuu himself has an assortment of baking ingredients, a lot of vegetables because Hinata never stops eating now and will almost never take junk food over vegetables now that he’s gone pro and Ryuu needs to protect his junk food at all costs after the LAST time Hinata wanted snacks, several different types of vinegar because Saeko hates it and Ryuu needs _revenge_ , rice, dish soap, eggs, glue, and bread. 

On second thought, Ryuu moves the glue and two of the bottles of vinegar into Yachi’s basket. 

“There,” Ryuu gives a pleasant smile. “Now you don’t have anything weird that they’ll judge you about.”

Yachi blinks, taking Ryuu’s basket absentmindedly. He grins and strides around the corner with Yachi’s basket on his arm, bracing himself for the full force of the two cashiers’ beauty. 

He’s not disappointed. Ryuu pauses for a second, eyes flickering between them- _god_ they’re both pretty, all silky black hair and dark eyes, nearly as beautiful as Yachi is cute. Ryuu makes the executive decision that he’s too gay to function properly around the guy and Yachi would probably spontaneously combust if she had to talk to the girl and, with one last glance at the guy, strolls up to the girl. Her name tag reads “Shimizu”. 

He sets the basket down and starts unloading, distantly aware of Yachi meekly scurrying over to the guy. Ryuu gives Shimizu a bright smile, meeting her eyes- his smile freezes, struck by how blue her eyes are through her glasses- god _damn_ , she’s pretty. She’s got a beauty mark by her mouth and her hair is tied up in a simple ponytail and Ryuu is pretty sure she’s a goddess. 

Shimizu looks at the items in Ryuu’s basket, her only reaction a slow blink, like “are you serious?” and Ryuu might just be in love with this woman, completely done with the world, in the night shift- it’s past midnight, the store is deserted, and Ryuu has never been so thankful that his sleep schedule is completely fucked up. 

She reads off the total that Ryuu owes, her voice completely inflectionless. He pays and their fingertips brush when she hands him his change. 

“Has anyone ever told you you look like a goddess?” he asks as he gathers Yachi’s food up in a bag, making sure nothing gets smushed. Shimizu raises an eyebrow. 

“Yes,” she says. Ryuu laughs, slinging his bag over his shoulder. 

“It’s true,” he informs her. “Have a nice night!”

A flicker of surprise crosses her face when he waves. “You too,” she replies, tone disinterested but genuine. Ryuu smiles softly, holding the door open as Yachi rejoins him, and takes her bag. 

“You don’t need to do that,” Yachi protests, but she’s twisting her hands and fidgeting and Ryuu’s pretty sure it’s helping calm her down a little bit. 

“I want to, though!” he says instead, bumping her shoulder gently and looking back at the 24/7 convenience store one last time to meet the guy’s eyes, winking and grinning when he flushes and ducks his head. 

“What was the guy’s name?” Ryuu asks, knowing he’s going to come back during the night again just to see the two of them. Probably with Yachi, too. 

“O-oh, I think his name tag said Ennoshita?” she says hesitantly. “What was the lady’s?”

“Her name’s Shimizu!” Ryuu cheerfully informs her. “Isn’t that pretty? It fits her really well! We should come back next week!”

Yachi sighs. “So much for my sleep schedule… They’re both so pretty!”

“Shimizu’s even prettier up close!”

“Yeah, Ennoshita was even prettier up close too,” Yachi agrees softly. 

Ryuu almost _hopes_ Hinata will get into his snacks again, just so he has an excuse to see Ennoshita up close sooner than a week.

* * *

Chikara takes the night shifts for two reasons. 

One, he functions better at night, away from the crowds and bright sunlight and constant noise of the city. It’s more peaceful, other than the few rare customers doing late-night shopping. Those rare few customers tend to be… _strange_ , but it’s a price Chikara’s willing to pay. 

Two, the only other employee on the night shift is Shimizu Kiyoko, the most beautiful woman Chikara’s ever met, and he may strongly prefer guys but she’s one of the few girls he’d date if given the chance. Also, when there are two cashiers and one of them looks like _her_ , very few people actually go to him. 

There are two people in the store right now, Chikara knows, he’d watched them come in. A blonde girl and a guy with a shaved head, arms linked together, never leaving each other. The girl is cute, he supposes, and the guy is _unfairly_ attractive. The guy is wearing a white t-shirt and the girl is wearing a sweatshirt that is _clearly_ not hers and Chikara’s pretty sure they’re dating. 

He’s also pretty sure that he _shouldn’t_ be checking out the guy. But it seems he is _that_ weak to hot guys in tight white t-shirts. 

The guy rounds the corner from the cereal aisle, cheerfully looking between Chikara and Shimizu and, predictably, choosing to go to Shimizu’s line instead. Chikara resists the urge to sigh, and then the blonde girl is in front of him instead. Huh. He was pretty sure she'd join her boyfriend(??). 

He tears his eyes away from Shimizu and the guy to force a smile at the girl. She’s twisting her fingers nervously, and Chikara’s smile turns reassuring as he scans her items, what looks like a last minute grocery run. 

“Are you okay?” he asks as she nearly drops the eggs. 

“I-I’m fine!” she rushes out quickly, giving up on handing him her items and letting him grab them himself. She shoves her hands into the pockets of the sweatshirt quickly. “Sorry!”

Ah. “Anxiety?” he guesses, and she nods quickly, biting her lip. “No worries. What’s your name?”

“U-uh, I’m Yachi Hitoka.”

“That’s a pretty name, Yachi-san,” he compliments easily, scanning the last item and reading out her total. She seems to have relaxed a little bit, and her hands don’t shake as much as she hands over the correct amount. “Have a nice night!”

“You too,” she mumbles, grabbing her bag and heading out with a sweet little smile. Chikara smiles back, watching as the guy she came with holds the door open and takes her bag, then looks back, meeting Chikara’s gaze abruptly. He winks, a shit eating grin spreading over his face, and Chikara blushes, eyes wide, and quickly looks away. 

He finds Shimizu watching him with a raised eyebrow. 

“The girl was cute,” he says weakly. Shimizu snorts.

“The guy called me a goddess,” Shimizu informs him. “And then didn’t ask for my number.”

Chikara looks up at her sharply. “Really?”

“Sorry Chika,” she shrugs. “I’m pretty sure they’re dating. Or at least, he’s got _someone_.”

“Am I really that easy to read?” Chikara sighs, throwing the bottle of hand sanitizer next to him at her when she nods with a barely concealed smile. 

Oh well. Chikara’s used to ending up crushing on straight guys. And he highly doubts he’ll ever see them again. 

That’s probably for the better. 

“The girl was really cute, though,” Shimizu mumbles, and Chikara exhales slowly. 

At least he’s not alone in his struggles. 

He’s back. 

It’s been a week since Yachi and her friend (boyfriend?) showed up in the middle of the night, and Chikara kinda hopes the two of them aren’t _usually_ up this late. He wouldn’t wish his fucked up sleep schedule on _anyone_ , let alone two people as pretty as Yachi and her friend. This time, it’s just Yachi’s friend, though.

Yachi’s hot, probably straight, maybe-boyfriend. 

It’s late. A little past two in the morning. Shimizu already went home and Chikara’s the only one here. Suna should be here for his shift soon, but he’s almost always late. The lights flicker slightly, and Chikara’s got a textbook about the history of film propped up on the register. He really shouldn’t be studying, but there’s no one here to tell him not to, and what _else_ is he supposed to do? It’s two in the morning, he hasn’t seen anyone since Shimizu left an hour ago. 

But now Yachi’s friend is here, humming under his breath as he browses the shelves cheerfully. He’s _way_ too cheerful for two in the morning, but Chikara knows well enough to keep that to himself. Besides, it’s kinda cute. 

He practically skips up to the register, unloading not one but _six_ bisexual flags and an abundance of instant ramen- holy _shit_ , that much instant ramen can _not_ be healthy- and looking up at Chikara with a bright smile that makes his heart skip a beat. 

Chikara raises his eyebrows. “I’m not sure which of those I should be more concerned about,” he tells Yachi’s beautiful, possibly bisexual- _please_ let him be bisexual- friend. 

He cackles, and Chikara has _no idea_ why that stupid laugh is so damn attractive. It really _shouldn’t_ be that attractive, but Chikara’s heart is fluttering and he _really_ wants to be the one to make this _complete stranger_ laugh more. 

“You never know when you’ll need instant ramen.”

“And the pride flags?” Chikara asks before he can stop himself, scanning the first one and looking up at the pretty guy expectantly. 

“Yachi- the blonde girl I was here with last time- is really anxious about coming out to her mom so we’re all going with her,” he explains. “So me and all our other bi friends are coming with!”

“That’s sweet,” Chikara says, hiding a grin. “Yachi-san seemed really anxious last time you two were here, it’s nice that you’re all backing her up.”

“Yeah, Yacchan gets really anxious around pretty people,” he replies, leaning against the counter and winking when Chikara meets his eyes, startled. 

_Oh_ , Chikara thinks.

“How is she ever comfortable around _you_ then?” Chikara shoots back before he can second-guess himself, looking back down and focusing on the bi flags he’s scanning instead. He chances a glance up, heart racing when he finds the guy staring at him with a light blush. 

“Wow, okay, that was _really_ smooth,” he says as soon as he finds the words. “Ennoshita, right? I’m Tanaka Ryuunosuke.”

“Nice to meet you, Tanaka-san,” Chikara smiles, scanning the last instant ramen package. His body works in autopilot through the rest of the exchange, stuck on Tanaka’s shit-eating grin and stupid laugh and pretty blush, jolting back into reality for a few seconds every time that smile is directed at him. 

“See you next week!” Tanaka calls as he’s leaving, and Chikara responds with “You too,” before he processes what he said and scrambles to correct himself, only to meet Tanaka’s eyes, sparkling with laughter, and Chikara gives up, hiding his face in his hands as Tanaka walks away. 

There’s a tap on his shoulder and Chikara doesn’t get up. 

“Morning, Ennoshita-san,” Suna says. Chikara groans and removes his hands from his face, meeting Suna’s bored gaze. 

“You’re on time, what a surprise,” Chikara snipes at his coworker- not quite a friend. Maybe someday. 

“He was cute,” Suna tells him. “In a delinquent kind of way, I guess. You have strange taste.”

Chikara swats Suna away halfheartedly. 

* * *

Working in a 24/7 convenience store in the middle of the night means Kiyoko has seen a _lot_ of strange people. 

She starts her shift with Sakusa, and when his shift ends she has half an hour by herself before Ennoshita shows up. It’s pleasant, working with the two of them. They’re both quiet and nice and don’t try to talk to her that much. 

Sakusa nods at Kiyoko as she walks in, sliding the hand sanitizer towards her as she pins the name tag to the front of her shirt. She takes it gratefully, fully used to the routine- Sakusa doesn’t like germs at all, and Kiyoko is perfectly willing to comply with his habits. 

“Good evening,” she greets, settling at the register and tucking the “closed” sign beneath the counter. She ties her hair back and sanitizes her hands, grabbing a clorox wipe to wipe her space down. 

The store isn’t that busy tonight. Kiyoko watches the clock tick and listens to Sakusa’s tapping against his register in time with the crappy pop music playing through the speakers. Kiyoko almost wants to ask what’s wrong- Sakusa _never_ taps, or fidgets, or makes noise like this- but she really doesn’t know him well enough to ask, she thinks. The tapping speeds up as more time goes on, losing it’s rhythm. 

There isn’t really anything to do, not with Sakusa. When Ennoshita shows up, if the store is still silent and deserted, he’ll pull out a deck of cards for them to pass the time with, or she’ll ask about his latest assignments, or he’ll tell her about something strange that happened. But Sakusa isn’t Ennoshita, and Kiyoko isn’t really sure how to interact with him beyond greetings and sanitation and habits. 

The door slides open and a blonde girl walks in- Kiyoko’s pretty sure she’s seen her before, but she can’t remember. She’s got a hood pulled over her head and the ends of her hair stick out messily and she’s wearing pajama pants like she couldn’t be bothered to change and she goes straight for the sweets aisle and disappears out of Kiyoko’s line of view. 

_Adorable_ , Kiyoko thinks, and then chases the thought away. 

Sakusa stares at her knowingly, and Kiyoko resigns herself to being judged. Oh well. She’s weak for tiny blonde girls. 

She’s weak for girls, in general. 

The girl walks up to her lane and sets down a large package of tiny marshmallows, a box of Froot Loops, a family size bag of kettle corn, a cucumber, a cheap notepad, and a crappy pen. 

Kiyoko gets a flashback to a week and a half ago, when the guy with the shaved head and a small, blonde girl showed up a little after midnight and the guy with the shaved head called her a goddess and bought nearly exactly the same things, minus the notepad and pen. 

Right. That’s where she recognized her from. 

Kiyoko starts scanning the items immediately, blinking when the blonde girl meets her eyes with a tired, sparkling look in her eyes- like a fire that’s struggling not to splutter out, that’s trying to catch on a fresh log. 

She’s an artist, Kiyoko realizes. There isn’t really any other explanation- there’s _nothing_ like the passion in an artist’s eyes, no matter the type of art, be it dancing or painting or designing or sculpting or music or writing. The fire of inspiration is a sight to behold, especially in this cute, messy-haired girl’s pretty brown eyes. 

The blonde girl blinks out of her trance to blink at Kiyoko like she’s confused, like something isn’t adding up. “Are you okay?” Kiyoko asks as she glances around like she’s reorienting herself. 

“I’m good!” she squeaks, pulling her hood down and brushing her hair out of her face. “I had an idea and-” she cuts off, snatching up the pen and notepad and scribbling down something, eyes glimmering with something bright and wonderful and shimmering.  
Kiyoko lets her take as much time as she needs, until she looks up to meet Kiyoko’s eyes again and sheepishly sets them back down for Kiyoko to scan. 

“Inspiration?” Kiyoko asks, smiling gently, and the girl nods furiously. 

“I have this assignment in my graphic design class and it’s really cool and I’ve been stuck on it for a _week_ and I just had this idea and I _need_ to sketch it out,” she blurts out quickly. “And I was sleeping at a friend’s house and he doesn’t have any _paper_ or snacks!!”

Kiyoko nods, letting the beautiful blonde girl talk about her ideas and her assignment- _redesign a logo of a popular brand that means something to you_ \- and her friend’s brand- _Bouncing Ball Corp_ \- and how years of anatomy classes are finally paying off and how all of her friends are obsessed with volleyball and catches her name in the middle of one of her sentences- _Hitoka_ , her name is Hitoka- and she shows her the basic design as she sketches it out quickly on the notepad. 

Kiyoko doesn’t realize how much time has passed until Sakusa informs her that he’s clocking out in a few minutes and checks- she’s been talking to Hitoka for nearly an hour. 

Hitoka seems to realize this as well, blushing and gathering her things and apologizing for taking up so much of her time. 

“It was interesting,” Kiyoko reassures her. “I hope your assignment goes well. Have a nice night!”

“You too!” Hitoka waves and skips out of the store, munching on tiny marshmallows and with purpose in her step. 

Kiyoko avoids Sakusa’s raised eyebrows with a blush, ducking to hide her face. 

Sakusa snickers, a rare show of emotion, and starts his ending routine. He finishes wiping down his area and sticks the closed sign on his lane, slipping off his gloves at exactly eleven o’clock. Kiyoko’s not sure how he does it, but he always finishes _exactly_ on time. 

“Goodnight,” he tells her as he throws his gloves away.

“Have a nice night,” Kiyoko replies, just like always. The familiar exchange is simple, but neither of them need any more than that. 

Kiyoko goes back to watching the clock tick. 

The door slides open again and Kiyoko looks up as a new person bursts in, eyes wild and breathing heavily like he ran the whole way here. He scans the shelves, landing on the empty register next to Kiyoko and swearing under his breath. 

He strides up to Kiyoko’s register without getting anything. “Is Omi- Is Sakusa still here?” His voice is tinged with desperation and Kiyoko almost wants to take pity on him and tell him that he just left, but she’s definitely not allowed to for safety reasons and as much as Kiyoko hates not being able to help people, she’s not going to risk anyone’s safety. 

“I’m not allowed to tell you that,” Kiyoko tells him.

“ _Shit_. He’s already gone, isn’t he.”

Kiyoko shrugs halfheartedly. 

“Thanks anyways,” he says, shoving his hands in his pockets and hurrying back out. Kiyoko wonders if she should’ve done something else, but she doesn’t have enough information to make a better decision. 

It’s not long before Ennoshita walks in, and Kiyoko brightens, because she doesn’t really have anything to do but get lost in her head and Ennoshita always has something to do. 

She smiles softly as he holds up a deck of cards questioningly.

“Maybe I’ll finally beat you in speed,” he jokes. 

He doesn’t, but he wins war twice and they lose track of time so completely that Kiyoko almost misses the end of her shift. 

* * *

Hitoka is riding on the high of inspiration for three days before she realizes what happened at the convenience store. She’s in the middle of explaining her process to Tanaka at a coffee shop, outside, and the sky is a beautiful silvery grey and the air is crisp and dry and there are red and orange leaves scattered around them. It’s autumn, Hitoka’s favorite season, and it’s just warm enough for them to stay outside. 

“And so I thought I could try out a slightly different font for the lettering, and-”

Hitoka freezes. 

Tanaka blinks, and tilts his head in confusion, which is frankly very adorable and Hitoka should really _not_ be thinking about how cute her best friend is (she already knows _that_ ) and _should_ be trying to process that she ran into the pretty lady at the convenience store in the middle of an inspiration storm and talked to her for nearly an _hour_. 

“Holy shit,” Hitoka breathes, and Tanaka patiently waits for her brain to reboot, taking a sip of his coffee. 

“Yacchan,” Tanaka starts, and Hitoka slams back into the present. 

“Ryuu, I’m doomed,” she tells him miserably, moving her mug of hot chocolate out of the way and dropping her head to the table in despair. “I talked to the pretty girl at the convenience store in the middle of my inspiration burst,” Hitoka continues. “For nearly an _hour_.”

Tanaka has the guts to laugh. Hitoka throws her napkin at him, offended. 

“Shimizu, right? The woman with the ponytail?” he asks, and Hitoka nods wordlessly. “I dunno, Yacchan, you’re pretty cute when you’re excited about something!” He pauses for a second. “I mean, you’re cute all the time. But when you get all excited you get this look in your eyes and you don’t really process things enough to be anxious and you lose your filter and it’s really adorable!”

Hitoka groans and sinks farther into her chair. “I probably called her pretty or something.”

“That’s a good thing!” Tanaka insists, reaching out to tug on her side ponytail. “You’re cute as heck Yacchan! She'd have to be blind not to see that!”

“I was wearing pajama bottoms,” Hitoka continues, pointedly ignoring Tanaka’s snicker. “I’m gonna _die_.”

“Aww, Yacchan, I didn’t tell you about my encounter with the other pretty cashier did I?” Tanaka asks, grinning. Hitoka raises an eyebrow. 

“No, you did not.”

“So!! Remember those bi flags I got for next week? Ennoshita was there and he asked me why I needed so many flags so I told him we’re forming a protection squad for you coming out and he remembered you! He said you looked really anxious last time and it was sweet of us to back you up. So I told him you get really anxious around pretty people and he asked me how you were ever comfortable around ME then and oh my GOD Yacchan, I swear I nearly fell over. I might legitimately be in love,” Tanaka grabs Hitoka’s hands excitedly. “AND HIS BLUSH. It’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen that isn’t you, Yacchan. We need to go back as SOON as possible.”

Hitoka nods silently. Tanaka is going to be the death of her. 

“Holy heck, Yacchan, your hands are freezing,” Tanaka says suddenly, holding her hands tighter. His hands are warm and rough and Hitoka kind of wants to hold them forever. Stupid feelings. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

Hitoka reluctantly pulls one of her hands away, patting Tanaka’s hands absentmindedly, to take a sip of her hot chocolate. “Didn’t really notice, I guess.” She shrugs, burying her face into her scarf to hide the inevitable blush on her cheeks. “You’re really warm, though.”

Tanaka scoots his chair around the table and wraps an arm around Hitoka, ruffling her hair fondly. Hitoka sighs in bliss and melts into Tanaka’s arms, thoroughly enjoying the warmth and affection. 

At least now Tanaka _really_ can’t see the blush that’s spilling over her skin.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warning: theres a bit of a creepy customer that tries to hit on kiyoko and a tiny bit of panic in here so if that makes you uncomfortable (it's only like three hundred words? and i don't think it's that bad? but i don't want anyone to be uncomfortable reading my work) you can skip from "Shimizu is just getting ready to clock out and head home when the second customer walks in." to "Kiyoko wakes up with a crick in her neck and voices chattering from a room away, muffled and distorted." or if you're on mobile to the next break in the text. i'll summarize that section in the end notes in case you decide to skip :)

Chikara doesn’t regret choosing the night shift (he’s heard  _ stories _ of the horrors of the convenience store during the day rushes, shuddered over during the early hours of the morning when it’s just Chikara and Suna, and Suna knows everyone’s stories). He avoids the bossy people who demand to see the manager, the overwhelming rushes, the people stacking up. 

Sometimes the night shift is nice. The struggling college students are always nice, the underpaid workaholics never complain, the night owls are usually just restless. There are the rare few like Tanaka and Yachi, who show up for groceries and snacks and smile and never cause any trouble at all. Sometimes there’s no one at all, and the night wastes away. 

Shimizu’s shift is nearing its end, and Chikara’s twisted over the back of the counter, staring at his cards and slowly making eye contact with Shimizu. She stares back, face completely emotionless, until Chikara reflexively blinks. 

A flicker of triumph passes over Shimizu’s face and Chikara counts it as a win, even as she slowly and deliberately sets her next card down. 

It’s a skip.

“Uno,” Shimizu announces inflectionlessly, holding her final card up to hide her grin. Chikara swears and throws his hands in the air, cards fluttering to the counter around them. A draw four.  _ A draw four _ . Shimizu’s last card is a  _ draw four _ . 

Chikara’s pretty sure Shimizu either has  _ crazy _ good luck or she’s  _ really _ good at stacking the deck. She doesn’t look like the type to stack the deck but sitting across from her, as she covers her mouth to hide away her giggles, he’s pretty sure she could definitely stack the deck, but chooses not to because she doesn’t need to. 

Shimizu’s unfairly pretty.

The door of the convenience store slides open and Chikara and Shimizu meet each other’s eyes in a moment of shared panic, and Chikara reacts quickly, shoving the cards underneath the counter and whipping around to lean against his register, offering a friendly, tired smile at the new customer. 

They both relax as the customer slips into the aisles, letting out twin exhales and shyly smiling at each other. 

There’s the sound of the freezer opening, deafeningly loud in the empty store. The lights are flickering in a way that Chikara hadn’t noticed at all while playing with Shimizu, shadows playing over her features, and he’s never seen anyone as pretty as her in bad fluorescent lighting in the middle of the night, a stranger’s footsteps echoing through the store, obnoxious pop music playing so quietly in the background Chikara can barely hear it. 

A few minutes later, the customer emerges from the aisles, humming under their breath as they set a tub of lemon sorbet on the counter. Shimizu nods at the customer, turning her attention away from Chikara. Her hair is down today, he notices, and she tucks it behind her ear as she rings up the tub of sorbet. 

Chikara’s eyes catch on the bright blue, face up Skip card sitting on the counter, a few inches away from Shimizu’s elbow. Perfectly in the customer’s line of sight. 

He freezes. 

Shimizu notices it, too- she stiffens suddenly, elbow going very still, and carefully, subtly, drags the stray uno card away. It catches on something and when Shimizu stiffens even more and tries to drag it harder towards the register as she swipes the customer’s card. It curves, then Shimizu moves her elbow away to touch the screen of her register. It's  _ flung _ away, bright blue, flying through the air like a majestic bird of prey. 

Chikara and Shimizu watch, stunned, as the customer walks out of the store, eyes glued to their phone, oblivious to the blue uno skip card sailing over their head to the land smack against the glass door, floating gently to the ground as the customer slips earbuds into their ears and bobs their head to the beat. 

Shimizu turns to Chikara with a look on her face, something like  _ utter shock, _ and they both burst into laughter, clutching their sides as Chikara ducks away from the register to pick up the card. 

“I can’t believe they didn’t see it,” Chikara gasps out between giggles, and Shimizu shakes her head silently, laughing even harder as they start picking up the uno cards dumped underneath the counter. 

Chikara finally catches his breath and looks up at Shimizu, her cheeks flushed from laughing and eyes sparkling and shaking from mirth. 

He loses his breath all over again. 

Shimizu is just getting ready to clock out and head home when the second customer walks in. 

The doors slide open as she’s tucking her deck of uno cards into her pocket. She’s still got a few minutes left but they’ve lost more cards than they’d care to admit here and experience says it’s better to pack up the cards earlier. 

Chikara glances at the customer, pasting on his customer service smile, but the man just sneers at him and stares at Shimizu hungrily. 

Well  _ that’s _ not good. 

The customer strolls into the aisles with a plastic air of indifference, and Chikara cringes. Shimizu’s back has gone perfectly straight and her gaze has hardened, a far cry from the sparkling openness from earlier. 

Chikara swallows hard, restless anxiety making him fidget. The night shifts are mostly great but every once in while there are the  _ creeps _ . 

“You can stay in the back room for a while if you want?” Chikara whispers to Shimizu, drumming his fingers against the counter. She sighs. 

“Hopefully it won’t get that bad.”

Chikara nods and looks at the clock. The flickering lights and echoing, faded music seems eerie now, like something out of a horror movie. He shudders. 

The customer rounds the corner, smirking sleazily as he leans against the register to get into Shimizu’s personal space. He sets a small assortment of items on the table. His mouth is moving, but Chikara can barely hear him over his own pounding heartbeat, gluing him to his place behind the register as his instincts battle between protecting Shimizu and fleeing. 

Shimizu finishes scanning his items in record speed, shoulders rigid and stiff. 

The man frowns after a second and scoffs, grabbing his things and sauntering out with one final glare. 

A huge whoosh of air leaves Shimizu’s lungs, her entire posture deflating. “Sorry, I panicked,” Chikara apologizes, balling his hands up and sticking them in his pockets. “I should’ve tried to help at least a little bit.”

“It’s okay,” Shimizu shakes her head, waving off the apology easily. “I think I’m going to chill in the back room for a while,” she tells him, walking towards the back on wobbly legs. He nods shakily. 

“If you don’t mind waiting a while, I can walk you home once Suna gets here,” Chikara offers. Shimizu shoots him a grateful look.

“Mind if I nap for a while?”

Chikara shakes his head. As soon as she’s out of sight, he sets his head on the register and sighs. 

* * *

Kiyoko wakes up with a crick in her neck and voices chattering from a room away, muffled and distorted. 

She stretches, unfolding her legs from the tiny bench in the back room and cracking the door open. Ennoshita is cheerfully talking to a dark haired guy she’s pretty sure is Suna, the worker who shows up after Ennoshita. 

Ennoshita looks up and grins when he sees her. “Oh, Suna, this is Shimizu. She works here before me.”

Suna raises an eyebrow. “Nice to meet you, Shimizu. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

Kiyoko nods, yawning. 

“Suna, do you mind if I clock out early? There was a creep here earlier and I want to make sure Shimizu gets home safely,” Ennoshita continues. Suna waves a hand, dismissing him, and Ennoshita grins, unpinning his name tag from his shirt and squeezing past Kiyoko to grab his bag. “Thanks, Suna. Say hi to Osamu-kun for me.”

Suna wrinkles his nose. “I’m not saying hi to ‘Samu for you, Ennoshita, he’s an asshole.”

“Doesn’t stop you from calling him ‘Samu and shamelessly flirting with him  _ all the time _ ,” Ennoshita retorts, linking his arm with Kiyoko’s and tugging her towards the door. He laughs as Suna throws a spare name tag in his direction, missing horribly. 

Kiyoko and Ennoshita step outside, into the brisk night air. It’s still dark out, despite the moon shining brightly, and a few pinpricks of light shimmer across the sky. Kiyoko shivers, breathing in deeply. It’s beautiful out tonight, if a bit cold. 

Kiyoko points up at the moon, and they slow to a stop for a moment, staring up at the sky. 

“Everything looks prettier in the moonlight,” Ennoshita muses. He glances at Kiyoko and then looks away quickly with a light blush. “It’s nice to get to spend more time with you, even if the reason isn’t the best.”

Kiyoko shrugs. “Thanks for offering to walk me home. I like spending time with you.”

Ennoshita freezes, and Kiyoko grins, knowing there’s a soft pink blush coating his face without looking over at him. 

Someone brushes past Kiyoko, and she turns to glare at them. She stops suddenly when she sees a vaguely familiar face. 

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry!” the person apologizes quickly. “Oh, hi! Ennoshita and Shimizu, right? From the convenience store!”

“Hi, Tanaka-san,” Ennoshita greets with a smile. “Heading to the store?”

“Just wandering, mostly. My brother sexiled me and I don’t want to wake anyone up. I was considering heading to the store,” Tanaka tells them, grinning widely. “It’s nice to see you two!”

“I wouldn’t suggest heading to the store now,” Ennoshita says with a snort. Tanaka looks at him questioningly. “Suna is there now.”

Tanaka raises his eyebrows and Ennoshita sighs. “Suna has a customer who shows up every single morning to flirt with him. He pretends to hate him but he flirts back just as much. Apparently the customer made it very clear from the beginning that Suna could tell him to fuck off whenever and he still hasn’t.”

“He won’t even notice that there are other people there,” Kiyoko adds. “I had a shift with him once.”

Tanaka snickers. “Mind if I walk with you two then?”

Ennoshita’s eyes flicked over to Kiyoko. “I don’t mind,” he says carefully, watching Kiyoko for a reaction. 

“That’s fine with me,” Kiyoko mumbles. Tanaka beams and falls into step next to them. 

They fall into a comfortable silence, footsteps matching up in a pleasant rhythm. It’s cold but Kiyoko finds it’s easy to ignore the temperature by focusing on the company instead. 

A sharp wind blows past them and Kiyoko and Ennoshita shiver violently at the same time. They catch each other’s eyes and smile softly, like sharing an inside joke. 

Tanaka immediately sheds his coat, draping it over Kiyoko’s shoulders, and hands his hat to Ennoshita. Kiyoko melts into the warmth, pulling the coat close over her shoulders. “Thanks.”

“No problem! You should’ve mentioned that you were cold earlier, I run really warm,” Tanaka tells them cheerfully. “Have either of you seen the new rom com that came out a couple days ago?” 

Ennoshita takes a deep breath, and then slowly deflates. “I’ve seen it,” he says quietly instead.

“Oh, cool! What did you think? I’ve been meaning to go see it!” Tanaka smiles brightly, looking at Ennoshita expectantly. 

“It was okay,” he responds. “Not really my thing.”

“Oh, cool. Rom coms aren’t really my thing either, but Yachi really enjoys them!”

“I’m a film student, a bunch of my friends really like tearing apart bad movies, so we went together,” Ennoshita offers up. Kiyoko remembers the textbooks hastily shoved into Ennoshita’s bag some nights and tucks that piece of information away for later. 

“That’s awesome!! My sister does that too, it’s always hilarious to sit next to her when we watch movies together.”

Ennoshita nods. “Well. My friends mostly like to watch bad movies and listen to me tear them apart,” he admits quietly. 

Tanaka’s eyes sparkle. “So what’s your  _ real _ opinion of the new rom com?”

Kiyoko watches as Ennoshita gives a tiny smile and inhales, ready to talk. She shoots him a comforting grin and he shifts, detangling their arms to grab her hand instead. “Well, first of all the main character is  _ really _ dumb- and not like, typical rom com dumb…” 

Kiyoko reaches out and loops her other arm around Tanaka’s hesitantly, Ennoshita’s passionate rant filling the silence. By the time they reach her apartment, Ennoshita is out of breath from talking so long, Kiyoko’s sides hurt from laughing, and she’s got her fingers laced in Tanaka’s hand on her right side and Ennoshita’s on her left side. 

It’s really nice.

Kiyoko unlocks the door to the apartment building and turns around to hand Tanaka’s coat back to him. 

“You can keep it, my brother’s boyfriend has been bothering me about getting a new coat for ages,” Tanaka waves her off. “We should go see the movie together! I’ve been meaning to take Yachi to see it anyways.”

“...The four of us?” Kiyoko asks, and Tanaka nods, grinning. Kiyoko briefly wonders if he’s trying to ask them on a date. “I’d love to.”

Tanaka practically beams, and they both look at Ennoshita simultaneously. His eyes are wide, looking at both of them, and he slowly nods. 

“Th-that sounds nice?”

Kiyoko is fairly certain Tanaka is asking them on a date accidentally. 

Tanaka pulls a pad of sticky notes and a pen out of his pocket and scribbles his number down, handing the first sticky note to Kiyoko, and the next to Ennoshita. “Here! You can text me so we can work out the details!” 

Kiyoko waves, tucking the sticky note in Tanaka’s jacket’s pocket. “I’m gonna get some sleep,” she tells them, and Ennoshita waves back. 

“Bye, Shimizu-san!” Tanaka calls. 

She closes the door of the apartment building, heading for the stairs. She faintly hears Tanaka say “It’s just past four in the morning, huh. Yachi’s probably up!”

...Kiyoko is very worried about Yachi and Tanaka’s sleep schedules. 

* * *

“ _ So Yacchan _ ,” Tanaka starts. “ _ Yknow that rom com you wanted to go see? _ ”

It’s 4:39am, and Hitoka would really like to be sleeping. But no. Tanaka is calling her instead. She’s almost scared to know what he’s about to say. Does she want to hear it? 

And it’s not like she was asleep, anyways. Tanaka wouldn’t call her if she were asleep. He definitely knew she was up. 

Well. She  _ does _ need to finish this essay today. 

“ _ I was walking around out of boredom and I ran into Shimizu and Ennoshita and long story short do you want to go see a movie with them _ ,” Tanaka blurts out. 

Hitoka drops her phone. 

It’s the middle of the night, and Hitoka isn’t sure  _ why _ she woke up, but she’s awake now. It’s the type of “wake up in the middle of the night” that  _ demands _ she get up, get out of bed, do  _ something _ . So she finds herself in front of a familiar 24/7 convenience store, peering in the glass, wondering if she dares go in. 

Hitoka tugs at the ends of her scarf indecisively. It’s cold out here, and the ratty old sweatshirt she’s wearing isn’t really that warm. It’s getting cold. She kinda wishes Tanaka was here. He’d drag her inside fearlessly, smiling brightly. 

Mind made up, Hitoka walks inside. There’s music playing, something obnoxious and catchy that’s probably been playing on the radio for weeks. It’s much warmer inside, and Hitoka lets out a breath of relief. 

“Welco- oh, hi Yachi-san!” Ennoshita calls, and Hitoka turns around with a smile. Ennoshita’s sitting on the counter of his register, and holy heck, he’s wearing  _ Tanaka’s hat _ . Hitoka’s gaze shifts over to Shimizu- after a moment, Hitoka realizes she’s got Tanaka’s jacket tied around her waist. 

Well. Hitoka has no room to talk, considering the ratty old sweatshirt  _ and _ the scarf definitely don’t belong to her. 

Ennoshita nudges Shimizu’s shoulder, and she moves back towards him with a roll of her eyes. Hitoka heads for the aisles, feet tracing a now-familiar path to the tiny marshmallows in the sweets aisle. 

She snags a bag of tiny marshmallows and browses past the other snacks, reluctantly dragging herself away from the salt and vinegar chips. By the time she’s reached the register, Ennoshita is carefully french braiding Shimizu’s hair, and for the first time Hitoka notices a deck of Uno cards next to Ennoshita on the counter. 

“Shimizu, if you ruin this I  _ will _ take my Uno cards back,” Ennoshita threatens, and Shimizu carefully scoots away, reaching out as far as she can without moving her head away to scan the marshmallows and read out Hitoka’s total. 

“So, what’re you doing up this late?” Ennoshita asks. 

“I woke up restless and marshmallow-less,” Hitoka shrugs, paying and stuffing her marshmallows in her sweatshirt pocket. “Don’t really have anything to do.”

“You can hang out with us for a little bit if you want?” Shimizu offers and Hitoka blinks in surprise.

“O-oh, that’d be nice.”

Ennoshita finishes the braid and holds a hand out to Shimizu, who promptly hands over a hair tie. He ties the braid off and grabs the deck of Uno cards. “We were just about to play a game, want to join?”

Hitoka nods. 

“Here, come sit with us,” Shimizu tells her, patting the counter next to her. Hitoka hurries around the register and hops up on the counter next to Shimizu. It’s a tight fit, but they manage. 

Ennoshita shuffles the cards and deals them out, and Hitoka carefully sorts her cards by colors and draws up on her courage. “So, Shimizu, I noticed you’re wearing Tanaka’s coat.”

Shimizu coughs, startled, and blushes, and Ennoshita tries and fails to hold back a smile. “And that’s definitely his hat,” Hitoka continues, and Ennoshita fumbles with the deck of cards and a shower of Uno cards fall to the ground. His blush matches Shimizu’s.

Hitoka giggles, sliding off the counter to help pick up the fallen cards. “He never lets anyone stay cold around him. This isn’t my scarf.”

“He’s sweet,” Shimizu mumbles. Hitoka nods in agreement. 

“And really cute,” Ennoshita adds, straightening the deck of cards. “Shimizu, your turn.”

Shimizu plays a card, and Hitoka reverses it. Ennoshita huffs in mock offense, and Shimizu grins at him and plays a skip. 

Ennoshita groans. Hitoka takes pity on him and reverses again. 

He stares at the reverse like it’s offended him and draws a card. Hitoka bursts into laughter, Shimizu hiding her giggles with a hand next to her. 

“How long have you been friends with Tanaka?” Ennoshita asks. Hitoka hums, considering it. 

“I think he thought I was his friend since my first year of high school, when he was a second year, but I was mostly just terrified of him,” she says after a few minutes, drawing a card after running out of reds. It’s a yellow, and Hitoka wrinkles her nose. Unhelpful. “I was the manager for the volleyball team and he was on the team. I stopped being terrified of him when he tripped and fell on his face and refused to get up because a cute guy saw him trip and he told us all to leave him there to die.”

“That sounds like him,” Ennoshita snorts. 

“How did you two meet?”

Shimizu plays a draw two and blinks. “Hmm… five months ago?”

“I think I accidentally left one of my textbooks in the back room and had to go back and get it, and Shimizu and Suna were there,” Ennoshita adds, then glances down at the deck and gasps. “How  _ could _ you, Shimizu.”

Shimizu only smiles. “I transferred to the night shift a couple weeks after he forgot his textbook. We got really bored because there wasn’t anyone here. So one day Ennoshita brought a deck of cards.” Shimizu reverses the order again. “Uno.”

“How.  _ How _ ,” Ennoshita stares at the cards in his hand despairingly. Hitoka counts nine cards, and giggles. 

She looks down at her own cards, then slowly sets a draw four wild down. “Blue, and Uno.”

Ennoshita groans and draws his cards. “Yachi-san, I trusted you!”

Shimizu glances at the wild distastefully and draws as well, her eyes lighting up as she sets a blue zero down. “Uno.” 

Hitoka grins and plays her final card, a wild. 

Ennoshita throws his cards in the air.

####  **tanaka ii**

“Ryuu!! Yacchan!!! Let’s go for a walk!” Noya yells, throwing open the door to Ryuu’s apartment. Yachi jumps, stumbling backwards off the couch and barely keeps herself from falling on her face. Ryuu sets the bowl of popcorn next to her on the floor so she can still reach it. 

“Thanks Ryuu,” Yachi says, muffled by the floor. She reaches a hand out and grabs a handful of popcorn.

“Morning, Noya,” Ryuu greets cheerfully. “I thought you were getting home tomorrow?” 

“Nope! I got an earlier flight, it was cheaper. Get up, let’s go!” Noya snags the bowl of popcorn, ignoring Yachi’s small noise of complaint, and tosses a piece of popcorn into his mouth. “C’moooon, I wanna spend as much time with you guys as I can! I’m only staying in Japan for a week!”

Ryuu groans, wrapping his blanket farther around his shoulders. “Yuuu we’re tiiiiiired.”

Yachi raises her head briefly. “I haven’t slept for twenty four hours, Noya.”

“Ooh, what happened?” Noya asks, eyes lighting up with curiosity. 

“Played Uno and learned how to braid with the two prettiest people I’ve ever met,” Yachi informs him. “Don’t regret it at all.”

Noya blinks. “Alright, get up, we’re going for a walk, I need to hear this!”

Ryuu gets to his feet, offering Yachi a hand. “Noya’s only here for a week, Yacchan.” She groans, flopping a hand in the general direction of Ryuu. He grabs her hand and hauls her to her feet. Noya applauds happily and grabs Yachi’s other hand, dragging the two of them out the door.    
Ryuu pulls away to lock the door behind them, briefly mourning his popcorn. Oh well. He’ll clean it up later. 

“So! Yacchan!! Tell me about the pretty people you’re losing sleep for!” Noya demands as Ryuu reclaims Yachi’s other hand. Ryuu’s phone buzzes and he pulls it out of his pocket to check. 

**_❀shimizu❀_ ** _ to  _ **_midnight marshmallow fiends_ **

_ Yachi-san, please get some sleep _

Ryuu laughs, and Yachi and Noya cut off to look at him. “What is it?” Noya asks. 

“It’s nothing,” Ryuu tucks his phone back into his pocket. “Continue.”

“Ok…” Yachi turns back to Noya to catch him up on their meetings with Shimizu and Ennoshita but Ryuu knows she felt her phone vibrate too. 

**_tanaka_ ** _ to  _ **_midnight marshmallow fiends_ **

_ sorry shimizu but my brother’s home no one is going to get any sleep this entire WEEK _

Yachi glances at Ryuu. “ _ Anyways _ , last night I went to the convenience store again and played Uno with Shimizu and Ennoshita until Shimizu’s shift ended and then Shimizu stuck around for a little bit longer and Ennoshita taught me how to braid using her hair. We’re going to see a movie with the two of them in two days.”

“You two have a DATE?? With PRETTY PEOPLE?” 

“We’re just going to see a movie, it’s not a date,” Ryuu protests. 

“It really sounds like a date though. Do you want it to be a date?” Noya presses ahead. Yachi discreetly checks her phone and stifles her giggles. Noya turns his prying eyes on her. “Yacchan?”

“Shimizu texted the group chat,” Yachi admits, glancing at Ryuu with a little grin. Noya makes a little “Aha!” and tries to peek at her screen. Yachi slides her phone back into her pocket easily. “Where do you want to walk?”

“I dunno, around? Isn’t there a park somewhere around here?” Noya flaps the hand not holding onto Yachi. “It’s weird  _ not _ moving around, now.”

“There’s a park a few blocks away,” Ryuu confirms, letting go of Yachi’s hand briefly to lock the door of his apartment. He reclaims her hand and tugs them in the direction of the park, Noya following cheerfully. “How was travelling?”

“It was SO GREAT!! I found this really cool beach in the Netherlands with REALLY TINY SANDDOLLARS.” Noya continues regaling them with stories of fun places all over the world that he’s visited as they walk. 

The park is just as pretty as Ryuu remembers, even prettier with the warm autumn colors and falling leaves and Noya and Yachi talking passionately about a place in France that Noya visited- something about a chocolate shop, Ryuu’s lost track of the conversation. He observes quietly, two of his favorite people with a pretty background, laughing and happy and enjoying themselves. 

They’re both very short, Ryuu realizes with a snort. He lets go of Yachi’s hand and falls back a little bit, coming up behind them and resting his elbows on the tops of their heads. “I almost forgot how short you are Yuu!”

Noya squawks and tries to shove him off, Yachi tilting her head until his arm slides off onto her shoulder inside and then tucking herself up against his side. Noya bats at his arm harmlessly. “Ryuu! No! That’s not fair, you giant fucking monster!”

“I’m only like six feet tall you’re just tiny!” Ryuu laughs.

Yachi gasps and stops all of the sudden, and Ryuu and Noya glance at her, confused. She points to a lone woman sitting on a bench with a book- holy heck, it’s Shimizu. Ryuu grins. 

“It’s Shimizu,” Yachi informs Noya. Shimizu looks up from her book and catches sight of them, raising a hand to wave at them shyly. Ryuu waves back enthusiastically. 

“Let’s go say hi!” Noya says, dragging them towards Shimizu with way more energy than he needs. “I wanna meet her!”

“Noya, she might be busy-” Yachi protests weakly, letting the two of them lead the way with reluctance. 

“Hi, Shimizu!” Ryuu calls when they’re in earshot, and Shimizu slides a bookmark in her book and sets it down. 

“Tanaka, Yachi, it’s nice to see you again,” she greets warmly, then looks at Noya questioningly. 

“This is my brother, Nishinoya Yuu!” Ryuu introduces cheerfully. “Noya, this is Shimizu!”

“Hi, Shimizu! It’s nice to meet you!”

Shimizu nods. “Are you heading somewhere?”

“Not really! Just going for a walk,” Ryuu hums, and Noya elbows his side suddenly. 

“Oh my god, Ryuu, there’s a  _ volleyball court _ in the park. We should’ve brought a ball, it's been  _ forever _ since we’ve played together,” He hisses, and Yachi giggles. 

“There’s a volleyball in the back room of the convenience store,” Shimizu mentions quietly, and Ryuu and Noya whip around to look at her. Ryuu glances down the street, the convenience store is only a block away. Much closer than his apartment.

“Really?!?!?!?” Noya’s eyes are sparkling with excitement and happiness and Ryuu  _ really _ hopes it’s true because he hasn’t seen Noya look like that in a really long time- probably because he hasn’t seen Noya in a long time, but oh well- it’s really nice to see Noya again. And playing volleyball with Noya would be the BEST. 

“Mhmm. Sakusa on the evening shift, Suna on the early morning shift, and Kunimi on the late morning shift all play, so there’s normally at least one volleyball back there,” Shimizu continues. “We could go check now? If you want?”

“That’d be awesome!!” Ryuu bursts in, unwrapping his arm from around Yachi gently as Shimizu slides her book into her bag, slinging it over her shoulder and standing up. 

Noya catches his eye and yells “RACE YOU!!” as loudly as he can, and Ryuu swears and trips him into the grass before taking off, cackling. Noya bounces back to his feet and whooshes off after Ryuu, jabbing him in the side. They both skid to a stop outside the convenience store with bright grins and heavy breathing, laughing wildly. 

Shimizu and Yachi follow at a much more reasonable pace, and Ryuu holds the door open for the four of them. They walk inside together, and Ryuu bumps against Shimizu’s shoulder thankfully. She smiles softly.

Ryuu thinks he’s going to enjoy this week. 

“Your brother is an absolute ASSHOLE,” a vaguely familiar voice- maybe one of the other employees who sometimes works with Shimizu and Ennoshita?- yells, and Ryuu looks up, alarmed. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so the scene with the creep: basically, a customer comes in and tries to hit on kiyoko right at the end of her shift and she doesn't want to walk home in the dark after that so ennoshita offers to walk her home when he's done with his shift and she goes to nap in the staff room while she waits. 
> 
> thank you so much for reading! i hope you all have a wonderful day :)

**Author's Note:**

> you may have noticed i successfully avoided saying how much things cost that's because i'm the youngest in my family and anxious about literally everything and have so far managed to avoid going to any store ever alone so i have no clue how much things cost. oh well lol!!  
> here's my [hq tumblr](https://hq-ideadump.tumblr.com/)
> 
> comments and kudos appreciated!! <3 i hope you enjoyed this


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